Protective device for packages of cigarettes



July 11, 1933. H. BRUDNEY PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR PACKAGES CIGARETTES Filed Jan. 31, 1930 INVENTOR Horr Eruol neg BY W W ATTORNEYS Patented July 11, 1933 UNITED STATES! 'r To-ric E HARRY BRUDNE-Y, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

rnoruc'rrvn DEVICE For. PACKAGES or creannrrns Application filed. January 31 ieso. Serial No. 424,804.

the use of the relatively compact packages;

of paper safety matches now extensively employed. The primary objectof the present invention is to overcome the fore oing difli cultv in the case of cigarette smokers by providing a protective device for cigarettes including match holding means. More specifically, the protective device is arranged to receive and hold a package of paper matches closely against the side of the protective device loaded with cigarettes, thereby leading to a compact arrangement in which the matches are always available when the cigarettes are being used.

A popular type'of protective devicefor packages of cigarettes is that comprising a top portion including an ope'nable closure.

and depending leg portions withinwhich a paper packageof cigarettes is received.- With this type of protective device it is customary to employ resilient means tending to open the closureand trigger means for controlling the opening of the closure. Such trigger means, however, have ordinarily becn located inside of the package'of cigarettes, or for other reasons is relativelyinaccessibleand inconvenient to use. One object of the present invention resides in the provision of such a protective'device having trigger means located outside of the package of cigarettes and readily accessible and conveniently operable with a very slight pressure and without crumpling the cigarette package.

Still another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a protective device for a package of cigarettes such as has just been described which will further be provided with match holding means; 7 A further object of the present invention is toso combine the aforesaid match holding means and trigger means with aprotective device that the resulting arrangement will be exceedingly simple, rugged, compact, and economical to manufacture. y T ,To the ,accomplishment n r' a...)

-, of the foregoing and such other objects as will hereinafter appear,-myinvention consists in the'elements and their-relation one to the other as here,- inafter aremore particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in by a drawing which:

Fig. 1 1s a perspective view showing my novel protective device in operation;

the claims The specification is accompanied Fig. 2 isa front elevation-of the protec-- tive device when removed from the'package of cigarettes; i

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation takenin the plane of the line3 3 in Fig.2; and I i Fig. 4 is a detail section taken in the plane of the line 44 in Fig. 2. 1

Referring to the drawing, and'more para ticularly to Fig. 1 thereof, my arrangement comprises a protective device, generally designated A, for receiving and protecting a packageof cigarettes B, and-provided with match holding means G, for receiving and holding, in this instance, a package of-paper matches 1), closely against the side of the package of cigarettes B.

The protective device A comprises generally a top portion 2, an openable closure l associated therewith, and depending leg portions 6. The protective device is also provided with a side wall 8 which carries match holding means C. j

Considering the disclosed structure more indetail, it'will be observed that the depending leg portions 6 may be formed ofa single piece of wire bent upward upon itself in hair pin fashion to form each of the leg portions and extending between the upper ends of the leg portions to form the bridge members 12. "The wire is preferably made of resilient material, and the leg portions 6 are spread somewhat apart at the bottom there of, as is indicated in Fig. 2, in order-to tend to hold the package of cigarettes in shape. The-lower ends of the leg portions 6 are flattened, as by hammering, asis indicated at 14, in order to facilitate insertion of the leg portions withinthe side edges ofthe package of cigarettes. A portion of the outer surface of the leg members 6 is roughened,

knurled, milled, 'orcorrugated, as is indiice cated at 7, in order to increase the grip of one side ofdthe top portion 2 lugs 16 are provided which are bent around the bridge member 12. The opposite side of the top portion is bent downwardly to form the depending sidewall 8, and lugs 18 are struck out from the side wall 8 and bent around the adjacent bridge member 12 in a manner similar to that applied to the lugs 16 on the opposite bridge member. The sidewall 8 is displaced outwardly from the adjacent sides of the depending leg portions 6 so that'when the protective device is applied to a package of cig-= arettes the side wall 8 will "lie outside thereof.

The primary function of the side wall, 8 is In the to serve as match holdingmeans. present instance: this means is especially adapted to receive and hold a package of paper matches like the package D in Figs. 1 and 4. For this purpose the wall 8 is provided with a rail 10 between which and the wall 8 the back side of the paper package of matches maybe slid when the package has been opened widely. In the present case the rail 10 has been provided simply by striking up a longitudinal strip of materialfrom the side wall8, this strip being beaded or channeled in order to increase its rigidity. It will be obvious that a pair of parallel longitudinal slots in the side wall 8 might equally simply be provided, through which the back of the paper ofmatches would be threaded, as well as the'more expensive expedient of soldering or brazing a rail'to the side wall. As will be clear from Figs. 1 and .4, the package of matches may be pushed downwardly until securely fixed in place, and thereafter the package may be opened for the removal of a match: and closed before the match is struck, all in the customary manner, and without disturbing the fixation of the package of matches in the match holds ing means.

Considered in another aspect, my invention consists in the provision of especially accessible and convenient trigger means for controllingthe opening of the closure 4 of the protective device A. In the present case the closure 4 is located at one end of thetop portion 2 and is hinged thereto by means of bearingflugs 20 on the top portion 2, and mating bearing lugs 22 on the closure 4, and a pin 24 passing through the apertures in the bearing lugs 20 and 22. Resilient means, preferably in the form of a coiled spring 26 one end 28 of which bears against the stationary portion 2, and the other end 30 of which bears against the closure 4, tends always to force the closure 4 to its open position, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The closure 4 is provided with an ear 32 having a semicircular opening 34 therein. The forward end of the side wall 8 is preferably indented as at 36 so that the ear 32 may be received flush therewith and the indented portion 36 is provided with a protuberance 38 in the form of the upper half of a' hemisphere, the lower edge thereof being arranged to engage the lower edge of the semi'circular opening 34 to normally hold the closure 4 in its closed position against the action of the resilient means 26. The lower portion of the forward end of the wall 8 is rounded to form .a knob or tab 40. By pressing inwardly on the knob 40 the mating aperture 34 and protuberance 88 are readily disengaged, thereby permitting the closure 4 to open. It will be noted that the wall 8 is free from the bridge member 12 for a considerable-portion of its length at the trigger end thereof, that novel protective device will be clear from the foregoing description thereof. Part or all of the top of a packageof cigarettes is torn open and the protective device A is then slid within the side walls of the package in the usual manner. The package of matches is opened and slid downwardly through the rail 10 until securely wedged or squeezed in place, whereupon it is again closedin the ordinary manner. When a cigarette is to be smoked the trigger means 40 is pressed lightly, thereby permitting the clo'sure4 to spring open for the removal of a cigarette, after which it may again be closed. 7 The package of matches Dis then opened, a match torn therefrom, and the package closed, preparatory to striking the match on the conventional striking surface painted on the package of matches.

The protective device for cigarettes here disclosed possesses many advantages, among which may be numbered the fact that it is as light and compact as any similaror'dinary protective device, and yet is provided with an improved trigger mechanism whichis sensitive and certain in action and which does not require distortion or crumpling of the package of cigarettes for its operation. The protective device is also'provided with match holding means, thereby enhancing, the value and utility of the device. These improvements have been made with but very slight addition to the cost-of the device in the way of either material or labor.

It will further be apparent that the protectivedevice as here constructed .may be used without taking advantage of the match holding feature. 1 It will also be clear that a protective device may be constructed with any type of trigger mechanism but provided with the match holding means here disclosed, and further that a protective device may be constructed with the trigger means here disclosed without being provided with the match holding means. Obviously, the combination of both the trigger and match holding means is especially convenient and eco nomical, and is considered the preferred form of the invention.

It will be apparent that while ,I have shown and described my invention in the preferred form, many changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claims.

I claim: a

1. A protective device for a package of cigarettes comprising a top portion, depending leg portions, a single depending side wall located outside of the package of cigarettes on one side only of said protective device, an openable closure, resilient means tending to open said closure, and a relatively freely movable manually operable trigger arm formed by an extension of said s1de Wall outside of the package of cigarettes for controlling the opening of said closure by said resilient means.

2. A protective device for a package of cigarettes comprising a top portion, depend- 1 ing resilient leg portions for insertion inside of the package of cigarettes, a depending side wall located outside of said package of cigarettes, an openable closure, re

silient means tending to open said closure, a relatively freely movable manually operable trigger arm formed by an extension of said side wall outside of the package of cigarettes and mating latch means formed on said cloopenable door at the top of said protective device, resilient means tending to open said door, a side Wall depending from the top portion and arranged to lie outside of the package of cigarettes, a longitudinal rail struck up from said side wall for receiving and holding a package of paper matches flat against the side of the package of cigtion secured to the wire rails, an openabledoor hinged to said top portion atone end thereof, resilient means tending to open the door, a side wall formed integrally withand depending fromthe top portion along one side of the protective device and arranged to lie outside of the package of cigarettes, and a relatively freely movable trigger arm formed by an extension of. one end of said side wall alongside ofthe door, said door and trigger arm being provided with mating latch means for holding the door in closed position.

5. A protectivedevice for a package'of cigarettes, comprising a relatively stifl' coni tinuo-us wire element bent toform two generally parallel top rails and two U-shaped depending leg portions, the wire of said U-shaped depending leg portions being fiattened and being milled or roughened to provide a frictional grip on the package of cigarettes,a sheet metal top portion secured to the wire rails,,-an openable door hinged to said top portion at one end thereof, resilient ,100'

means tending to open the door, a side wall formed integrally with and depending from the top portion along oneside of the rotective device and arranged to lieoutside of the package of cigarettes, a longitudinal rail struck up from said side Wall for receiving and holding a package of paper matches flat against theside of the package of cigarettes, i

and a relatively freely movable trigger arm formed by an extension of one end of said wall alongside of the door, said door, and

trigger arm being provided with mating latch means for holding thedoor in closed position. 7

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York this 24thda'y of January A. D. 1930. I i

HARRY 'BRUDNEY. Y 

